Principal Design Engineer

Alexander Associates Technical Recruitment; Glasgow; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Alexander Associates Technical Recruitment is partnering with a leading Tier 1 contractor to appoint a Principal Design Engineer for UK water projects. You will design and deliver water and wastewater schemes, including pipelines, treatment facilities, and civil assets.

You will lead multidisciplinary teams, act as the technical authority, ensure compliance with standards, and mentor engineers while collaborating with clients and project teams.

Qualifications

• Degree in Civil Engineering or equivalent qualification.
• Chartered Engineer status or working towards chartership.
• Experience in municipal water and wastewater sectors.
• Experience in contractor, consultancy, or design‑and‑build environments.
• Knowledge of water assets, treatment processes, and civil structures.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across multidisciplinary water and wastewater projects.
• Deliver high‑quality engineering solutions with Design Managers and Principal Engineers.
• Act as a technical authority, resolving complex challenges and driving excellence.
• Ensure designs meet standards, regulations, and client requirements.
• Provide governance and technical assurance within the discipline.
• Coordinate with other disciplines to support integrated delivery.
• Support procurement, construction, commissioning, and site teams.
• Drive innovation, continuous improvement and best practice.
• Mentor and develop engineers and designers.
• Provide technical oversight and line management where required.

Skills

Technical leadership

Water/wastewater design

Project delivery

Mentoring

Communication

Governance & assurance

Education

Civil Engineering degree

Chartered Engineer (CEng) or working towards

Job description

We have a Principal Design Engineer opportunity with a leading Tier 1 contractor delivering major infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects across the UK water sector. The role focuses on the design and delivery of water and wastewater schemes, including pipelines, pumping stations, treatment facilities, and associated civil engineering assets.

You will:

• Provide technical leadership across multidisciplinary water and wastewater projects.
• Deliver high-quality engineering solutions alongside Design Managers, Discipline Managers, Design Leads, and Principal Engineers.
• Act as a technical authority, resolving complex engineering challenges and driving technical excellence.
• Ensure designs meet relevant standards, regulations, client requirements, and project objectives.
• Provide governance and technical assurance across your discipline.
• Coordinate with other engineering disciplines to support integrated project delivery.
• Support procurement, construction, commissioning, and site teams with technical expertise.
• Drive innovation, continuous improvement, and engineering best practice.
• Mentor and develop engineers and designers.
• Provide technical oversight and line management where required.
• Build strong relationships with clients, suppliers, stakeholders, and project teams.

About You

• Degree qualified in Civil Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent qualification.
• Significant experience within the municipal water and wastewater sector.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) or working towards chartership.
• Experience within a contractor, consultancy, or design-and-build environment.
• Strong knowledge of water and wastewater assets, including buried and above-ground systems, treatment processes, inlet works, settlement tanks, final effluent systems, chambers, and associated civil structures.
• Strong understanding of health and safety legislation, British Standards, and industry regulations.
• Experience working within quality assurance and health and safety management systems.
• Ability to review and approve engineering calculations, reports, specifications, and design documentation.
• Experience undertaking hydraulic calculations and assessments.
• Knowledge of structural design for water-retaining structures and reinforced concrete detailing.
• Experience leading technical discussions with clients and developing engineering solutions.
• Experience leading design reviews, progress meetings, and site meetings.
• Working knowledge of NEC contracts.
• Understanding of quality, environmental, and health and safety management systems.
• Strong communication and technical report-writing skills.
• Proven ability to lead teams and deliver projects to programme and budget.
• Experience coordinating suppliers, subcontractors, construction teams, and internal stakeholders.
• Understanding of design planning, resource allocation, and programme management.
• Experience working within multidisciplinary teams.
• A passion for mentoring and developing engineers.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a leading Tier 1 contractor at the forefront of the UK water industry. You will play a key role in delivering critical water infrastructure projects while helping shape engineering standards, innovation, and future talent within a collaborative and supportive environment.